Form-A-Funnel: Simple, Moldable Sheet of Plastic Rubber

Buck, from Form-A-Funnel, writes about his product, which actually looks pretty great from the video:

"Form-A-Funnel" is a clever new invention that's utterly simple, yet truly useful. It's a formable, flexible shape that can be made into various types of funnels, drains, channels, or other shapes. It firmly holds its shape, and holds onto surrounding structures, which makes it great for working on machinery of all kinds.  Unlike conventional funnels, it's easy to clean and stores almost anywhere. It has hundreds of other uses, too, many of which can be seen on the manufacturer's website.

The coolest thing to me is how you can squeeze it around the outlets of ports coming out the sides of engines and it'll hold itself in place. Not revolutionary, but potentially useful at $25. I'd love to hear from someone who has one of these in their garage whether it's as handy as it appears to be or is all hype.

Product Page [Formafunnel.com]

[#1 posted by Supercontroller , March 27, 2008 8:25 AM]

Aaargh! This is something I thought of years ago. Although I must admit it is brilliantly executed.

[#2 posted by jyindc , March 27, 2008 9:15 AM]

It's made out of lead, but it's safe unless you like to chew on your tools. You could also stick it in some sulfuric acid and charge your ipod.

[#3 posted by ike , March 27, 2008 4:24 PM]

While I'd love for there to be a a non-lead based*, really food-safe** version of this product, on the bright side, maybe this can be used as an emergency conformable radiation shield! Shield your impromptu x-ray experiments or form it around your groin to protect your precious reproductive material from mutagenic ionizing radiation!

*(According to the FAQ, the product is made from a nitrile rubber sandwich around a thin layer of lead. I presume the funnel uses lead because it doesn't tend to fatigue and break between it's rubber covering, but maybe some kind of tin or alloy could do what this does without failing from metal fatigue?)

**(It seems like it would be useful as a funnel/bowl/plate for camping, kind of like Orikaso products but more versatile.)

[#4 posted by Jon Adair , March 27, 2008 8:49 PM]

Yeah, it reminds me of the Orikaso plastic origami backpacking tableware or the SAM Split, which is a thin sheet of aluminum between foam rubber.

[#5 posted by Tenn , March 27, 2008 9:57 PM]

Pretty nifty! Definitely beats out the piece of paper laminate I usually use as a funnel for my mom's oil.